22. February 2025
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Media Review

DeVicious – Black Heart

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

DeVicious - Black Heart

DeVicious - Black Heart
4.2

Rating

 4.2/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very versatile and entertaining album
  • Good songwriting
  • Very present vocalist

The different genres of metal are becoming a significant part of my Flyctory.com music coverage. This posting is about the band DeVicious from Karlsruhe, Germany, who are already releasing their fourth studio album on 14th April 2022. I had a listen and share my thoughts with you.

 

DeVicious – About The Artists

The German band DeVicious has been formed in 2016. Nowadays, the band consists of five members. The most prominent might be drummer Lars Nippa, formerly at Umbra et Imago. Antonio Calanna is the singer, the guitars are played by Radivoj Petrovic, while Alex Frey is the bassist of the band. Last, but not least, Denis Kunz is on the keys. The band was very active in the studio from the very beginning and started their album releases with the 2018 Never Say Never. Just a year later, they added Reflections to their portfolio. The biggest long-play success of the melodic heavy metal band, however, has been the 2020 album Phase Three, which has been received some very good critics.

 

DeVicious – Black Heart – Track by Track

The twelve track album lasts 59 minutes. The last two tracks (six minutes) are bonus tracks.There will also be an own DeVicious comic series named Dollhouse DV soon.

1. Afterlife

The opener Afterlife just works as you prefer an opener to work alike. Powerful, energetic, catching. You almost feel committed to sing along with the multi-cultural background combo during the chorus. Follow me to the afterlife – these almost five minutes definitely make this though feel like a sensible option.

2. Heroines

The guitar and keyboard work of Heroines creates the perfect melodic support for Calanna to illustrate his vocal strengths in this one. Especially the instrumental parts also offer some nice passages for fans of harder metal genres – for example, some nicely hammering guitar riffs.

3. A Special Mind

After the two opening single releases, A Special Mind might be the first new sounds of DeVicious listeners of this album. While I at the beginning even thought that the track might move towards metalcore, the chorus is again presenting beautiful melodic metal moments.

4. Liar

Apart from the bonus tracks, the 3:46 minute Liar is the shortest song of the album. I am already caught by the sound of DeVicious. Even if I dare to doubt if a song might turn into a good listen, the Germans catch me with the first chorus latest so far. That’s also the case with Liar, which is nicely developing a memorable profile over its runtime. Good work.

5. Black Heart

After a some twenty second intro to the song, the title track opens with a light na-na-na sing-a-long part. To me, Black Heart has a touch of Tobias Sammet and his signature Avantasia sound. Melodic metal written to have fun.

6. Not What It Seems

The keyboard intro of Not What It Seems rather makes me feel of 1980’s electronic pop rather than metal. Good that some guitar riffs pull me back to metal reality after some half a minute. I feel tempted to call this song a “ballad” – but it is just a bit softer and slower. The lyrics are actually very thoughtful.

7. Welcome The Night

After the keyboards have introduced the predecessor, Alex Frey and his bass are guiding you into Welcome The Night. Frey is also the key songwriter of most of the songs of the album. The song is a bit slower – and Frey and his guitar stay the dominating sound of this track.

Welcome the night
Turn on the light
Walk on the street
When there’s no place to hide
Welcome the night
Walk in the light
Oh, let it all out!

8. After Midnight

After Midnight again reminds me of melody lines of the 1980’s here and there. Finally, the Frey and Kunz are the key instrumentalists of this song again. Nice one.

9. Falling

Falling works with lush guitar riffs and quite some bass groove. The song is a nice one – but to me, it is not adding too much to the Black Heart story. Still a nice a listen.

10. Miles Away

If you don’t own the bonus track version, Miles Away is your closing track of the album. It feels like DeVicious want to give you a rocking farewell. It’s a lovely farewell – especially as the chorus is coming with one of the best melodies of the album.

11. Escape From Reality (Bonus Track)

The first bonus track is a nice listen. Similar to the nominal “chucker-out” track Miles Away, it especially catches you with a really good performance by Calanna in the chorus. Nice electronic guitar lines in the instrumental part, as well.

12. Axenyas Dream (Bonus Track)

This final track, less than three minutes long, rather feels like a folk music diddy than the bombast closing of a metal album. Nice way to create some atmosphere – and to close the album in a very special way.

 

DeVicious – Black Heart – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

 

DeVicious – Black Heart – My View

I liked Black Heart from the very first tunes I heard on the promotion platform – and I just cannot stop enjoying the sound of the Karlsruhe band. They do a good job. They might not be in the very top level of melodic metal – but they are close enough that their 2022 album is a very fluent, entertaining and versatile listen. Definitely recommended to listen to.

 

DeVicious & Night Laser – Tour 2022

Funny coincidence: starting with the album release, DeVicious will be on a Double Headliner tour together with Night Laser. I recently ran into Benno Hankers, lead singer of the Hamburg glam metal band, in Pinneberg, when he performed at one of the European performances of my favorite musical Rock of Ages in 2022 at a local stage (as Drew Boley). They are supported by Black Tiger

Th 14.04.2022 Geleen (Netherlands) – De Meister
Fr 15.04.2022 Bilzen (Belgium) – South of Heaven
Sa 16.04.2022 Roeselare – De Verlichte Geest
Su 17.04.2022 Oberhausen (Germany) – Resonanzwerk
Mo 18.04.2022 Hamburg – Logo
Tu 19.04.2022 Dessau – Grüber Baum
We 20.04.2022 Obermarchtal – Kreuz
Th 21.04.2022 Karlsruhe – Soundcheck One
Fr 22.04.2022 Mörlenbach-Weiher – Music Hall
Sa 23.04.2022 Trübbach (Switzerland) – Jonny’s Lion Cave
Su 24.02.2022 Aarburg – Musigburg

 

Postings with Tour Dates

Here are all Flyctory.com postings, which include tour dates:

 

Flyctory.com in Amsterdam

Here are all Flyctory.com postings related to Amsterdam:

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